An actor's voice can be one of his or her most attractive traits. It can also become a great disadvantage when it is too manipulated, overly character-y or obviously projecting the sound of feeling when no real feelings are present.

Yes, there comes a time when actors need to identify themselves as working actors. There are also plenty of times when making more money is a reality that actors need to face. It takes a certain type of confidence to take yourself out of the marketplace -- to train, to plan for a move, etc. But sometimes that time out of the marketplace sets you up for a much bigger leap in your career.

During his many interviews with Charlie Rose, Robin Williams shared some basic tips he learned from others in the industry. They are the same skills we strive to create in Meisner courses -- be reminded of how important they are.

It's not your job to change the atmosphere of where you are. It is your responsibility to manage your own feelings and get through the difficult times. There are people who are dream killers. Don't try to convince them of anything. My advice -- stay away from them as much as you can and keep your eye on your long-term goals.

Don't understand why you're not enthused about shooting your new webseries? Wondering why you don't feel like going out and auditioning? Everyone goes through those down times when we can't figure out why we aren't more excited about stuff we could be doing for our careers. Wendy discusses this and a new resource that might help.

I've been teaching 25 years and I see actors becoming more and more fragile. It's not helpful. It hinders greatness. Actors need to understand that just like athletes they have to toughen up to get on their game.

Using endearments like "love," "dear," "sweetie," etc. is just wrong in this industry. Please don't do this until you are least on a first name basis with someone. Even using a person's first name can be presumptuous. Better to err on the conservative side and wait until a
name is given to you to use. People like to say, "Oh, you can call me
by my first name."